A spring snowstorm caused flight delays and cancellations at Chicago’s two major airports Friday and was expected to dump up to 8 inches of heavy, wet snow in the north and northwest suburbs, with lesser amounts downtown.
The snow picked up in intensity about 1 p.m. Friday with heavy bands moving through the region, the National Weather Service said. In Evanston, snow was falling at about an inch per hour, with about 3.5 inches on the ground, the weather service said.
At the airports, delays around 11 a.m. were averaging 30 to 60 minutes for all flights in and out of O’Hare, with airlines having “proactively canceled flights to minimize impact on their customers,” the Chicago Department of Aviation said. More than 350 flights had been canceled due to the weather as of mid-afternoon.
At Midway, a few flights were delayed 30 minutes, with about a dozen cancellations.
At 4 a.m. Friday, the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation called up its full fleet of 273 snow-fighting trucks in preparation for the snowfall, said department spokesman Matt Smith.
In addition to that fleet, if necessary, Smith said, “we may have to go to smaller plows for the side streets.”
“Unfortunately for this [past] winter, it’s been necessary a lot,” he said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Brumer said flurries could pass through the Chicago area early Saturday morning.
SHOVELING OUT
A third of all heart attacks happen because of intense strain on the heart, and shoveling snow is comparable to a cardiovascular workout, said Cliff Kavinsky, cardiologist at Rush University Medical Center.
If you have a heart condition, shoveling makes your heart pump harder, he said. If you must shovel, using your knees and hips will lessen pressure on your back. And using a snowblower also can lessen strain on the heart, Kavinsky said.
